I realized that I had not topped up my/. subscription in some time and went to do so. Saw this:

"Please Note: Buying or gifting of a new subscription is not availableat the moment. We apologize for the inconvenience. This downtime thoughdoes not effect your current active subscription in any way. We willkeep you posted on the latest"

Any idea what's going on? Are they sticking to a pure ad model (all blocked anyhow, but I did like to subscribe as I like the ol' barn.)

Just building stuff, sometimes continuing the following week: Week 1Week 2

The booklet had a spiral which took some time to figure out. Basically, 2 pieces in the middle, and 1 on each side of it, which makes it look really cool, and more importantly, supports the turned pieces. They do a slow turn though.

After figuring it out, we went for a 3, that is, 3 in the middle, 2 on each side, and 1 on each side of that. With 1000 pieces, that allows 111 levels of 9 pieces each, which is what a friend built in the picture. The last piece might be lost, but there are 3 warped pieces in there. Got to watch out where to put them!

Kapla is expensive, but with a small table, the enjoyment never ends. In only takes a few minutes for even the ardent to give in and start building!

The idea "Hey, what if I line up powers of 20, multiply them by sort of coefficients, and add them...?" - is a huge intellectual leap. So far as I can determine, it only happened twice. It never happened in Europe.

But the key word of the previous sentence is "unnecessarily." Whether something is necessary or not is not a scientific judgment. It is a value judgment. An FDA official may personally believe that eating raw cookie dough isn't important and choose to never eat it. That is their choice. At the same time, I can believe that eating cookie dough (made from flour known to be not part of the recall and pasteurized eggs) is something that I enjoy enough that I'm willing to put myself and my children at (a very small) risk to do.

Someone ought to tell him that in US English, periods go outside the quotation mark.

Just came across The 50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time from way back on May 3, 2016, and i can't say that i agree with their subjective decisions. Regardless, it is a fun list. I think i would go play defenders on the 2600 again if i had the chance.

I made a stupid mistake with a keyboard. I didn't realize it until after i bought a raspberry pi 3 to replace it. With a total cost of $65.26 (pi, pi plug, dvi->hdmi cable, sd card) i'm glad i have it.

Ever heard of the NSF funded "Shrimp on a treadmill" study? Here's a video of the shrimp on the treadmill: They ought to turn that into a motivational video. Perhaps the small amount of views over the past decade has to do with an aversion to exercise.

Well, a library is a place where they have an Internet connection, and people tend to be on the quieter side. A book is where outdated information and stories without update or comment are posted. An anachronistic nostalgia wasting (y)our city's tax revenue. Not to mention our library's the ugly web page, not to be mixed up with a decent page from a library with a deceptively similar name.

I have a friend who works at the library. He works there part time, and has done so for many years. So when i do have an issue, i give him a call and (believe it or not) he is more than happy to help. And every time i do call and ask, i find out more about our library. Cool stuff too. The only prerequisite is a library card (number).

One item of interest is Zinio. IIUC, there's actually two Zinios. One for libraries, the other for personal use. Our library pays for Zinio, so as long as you have a library card you can login. I found the setup process to be terribly annoying, mostly due to error and a stupid process that keeps asking and re-asking. Whatever. Once it is setup, however, it works beautifully. Basically, Zinio has a bunch of digital magazine subscriptions such as Reader's Digest, National Geographic, fashion, hobby, and kids publications. I assume it depends on what the library pays for. You subscribe to it, and as long as there a "copy" available, you can read it. You release it when your done, and it can alert you where there are more. And, because there is an app too, you can read it just about anywhere. Cool stuff.

A second item is only interesting if you like ebooks. OverDrive has ebooks based on your library's subscription, and again, you use your card to login. It too has an app. It's like Zinio, but for books. (Should that be the other way around?:) I find this less helpful because i'm not big on ebooks, and i have a Kindle for that anyway. Nonetheless, between the webpage and app, it's a pretty cool option to have.

A third item, i found about only because my mother thought OverDrive would have it. It doesn't, but it's there, right on top, listed as "Catalog". Certainly you know what that is. Right? It allows you to reserve books and extend reservations (which is what my mother wanted), see what is past due, what you may owe, and so on. It also has a link to MelCat which they alert you not to use unless the other avenues have been exhausted. It's silly to order a book that already exists locally. Anyway, a website checkout for books. What will they think of next?

(When i went to "Catalog" on my mother's computer (via TeamViewer) it was pretty unusable in FireFox. So, i downloaded Chrome and set it to continue the last session on startup. Basically, where she usually uses FF, Chrome can be dedicated to the library. It's easy and simple, assuming it works out in the long run.)

The suggestion box is an email address. I want to tell them how ugly and unintuitive the website is and that the available options are very nice, nonetheless. But send a direct email?! Surely, you must be kidding.

So, i got a Raspberry Pi 3, and it arrive the day after Pi Day. But, as i purchased it from the UK, and they don't have a Pi Day, it's somewhat understandable. My Ukranian coworker asked me about P-day, and in the ensuing discussion she explained that in Russian it is pronounced pea.

And now, the pictures. I got the cord, because it was cheap enough and easy enough to just order it. The next order of business is to load up Linux. Ultimately, i got it to (play with and) give away to someone who needs something better for browsing. I wonder if i can throw LibreOffice on it.

The test was responded to, an i tried my hand at writing a JE for it. I quickly came up with something on my mind, and twisted it for the comment below, keeping it short.

Nothing was quoted, so the post had to include whatever material was being comment on, as opposed to specific quotes. Nonetheless, it's a creative effort that could be fun and challenged, if taken seriously (within reason). I'd like to see other people try it.

In related news, i bought some veggies to slice, peel, or whatever to them, and throw them in the freezer until i get the rest of the veggies. I'm much too lazy to do all the work in one shot.